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Annual Debate Contest To Take Place Across NYU’s Global Network

November 13, 2012
N-97, 2012-13

NYU today launched its annual Bickel & Brewer – NYU Global Debate Competition for academic year 2012-13. Student teams from all 14 NYU global sites will compete for $37,000 in prizes. The topic for the 2012-13 competition is: "Resolved: Increased taxes on the wealthy will not improve the global economy.” The competition is made possible through a gift from The Bickel & Brewer Foundation.

The Bickel & Brewer – NYU Global Debate Competition was the first student activity to spans its entire global network, with undergraduate debate teams from all its global sites competing against one another. In its inaugural year, more than 100 debaters participated in over 1000 hours of debate and research as they competed for prizes totaling some $37,000.

NYU President John Sexton said, “This competition epitomizes the idea of NYU as a global network university by bringing our students and faculty, regardless of location, together as part of one university in an intellectually challenging enterprise. While many of our pursuits, both scholarly and extracurricular, will be particular to one campus, as NYU continues to evolve as a global network university, many others will take place across the entire global network – such as next Spring’s NYU GlobalFest – and these will make an NYU education a distinctive and inimitable one.”

“For me, as a long-time debater and debate coach, it is especially fitting that our first cross-network activity was a debate competition.&nbsp; At NYU, we do not believe that the life of the mind should be confined within the classroom’s four walls. The NYU Global Debate Program reaffirms our emphasis on civil discourse, on the free and vigorous exchange of ideas, and on the engagement of NYU students around the globe in thinking and discussing an important, pressing issue. We were very pleased with how many students participated last year; we hope even more will compete this year.”

The Global Debate Program begins this fall semester with the formation of teams, with students registering for the competition in November. NYU faculty, graduate students and representatives from the Bickel and Brewer Foundation will serve as judges for the debates. In the spring semester, “knock-out” rounds will be held on February 15, 2013 on the New York campus and through the use of video teleconferencing connected to other global sites to reduce the field to a "sweet 16." The final rounds on the NYC campus will culminate in the Championship Debate on April 29, 2013 and an awards ceremony with prizes to the top 16 teams.

New York University, founded in 1831, is one of world’s foremost research universities and a member of the selective Association of American Universities. The first Global Network University, it has degree-granting university campuses in New York and Abu Dhabi, and has announced a third in Shanghai; has a dozen other global academic sites; and sends more students to study abroad than any other U.S. college or university. Through its 18 schools and colleges, NYU conducts research and provides education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, business, dentistry, education, nursing, the cinematic and performing arts, music and studio arts, public administration, social work, and continuing and professional studies, among other areas.